Ruger has worked through the grip colours on the RXM. Black, Stealth Gray, Flat Dark Earth, OD Green. When you run out of frame colours, there is only one place left to go, and Ruger has gone there: six new RXM models with PVD-coated slides in copper and blue are here.
The finish is the entire story here, and that is not a criticism. PVD, physical vapour deposition, deposits a thin, hard layer onto the steel in a vacuum chamber, and it is genuinely durable rather than a paint job. It is also the easiest way to make a budget-friendly striker-fired 9mm look like something other than a budget-friendly striker-fired 9mm.
Copper reads as warm bronze (goldish) against the black Magpul grip, and the blue is the sort of deep finish normally reserved for custom shops. It’s one of my favorite finishes, and works great on watches too, and the blue looks rather tempting.
Underneath, nothing has changed, which is the point. The RXM remains the Ruger and Magpul collaboration built around a removable serialized stainless steel Fire Control Insert that sits inside an interchangeable Magpul Enhanced Handgun Grip. Most major components are designed for Gen 3 compatibility with off-the-shelf parts, holsters and accessories, so the aftermarket is already there.
The grip is pure Magpul. The EHG uses a 3/4-scale TSP texture intended to grip securely without chewing up clothing during concealed carry, with textured indexing pads for consistent finger and thumb placement. A low-profile flared magazine well speeds up reloads, a trigger guard undercut and beavertail encourage a high grip, a magazine release scallop improves access, and a universal-pattern accessory rail takes lights and lasers. An extended magazine release and raised slide stop round out the controls.
The slide takes RMR, DPP and RMSc pattern optics directly, with no plate required, and co-witness-height steel sights include a tritium front. The trigger flat face. The barrel is precision rifled alloy steel with an FNC nitride finish. There is no manual safety; an integrated trigger safety and internal striker blocker instead. Two Magpul PMAG 15 GL9 magazines and a co-branded plastic carry case come in the box.
All six models are 9mm Luger at $579 MSRP, which puts them $40 above the black 4-inch RXM at $539, but $20 below the black 4.5-inch at $599. The colour tax, it turns out, depends on which barrel you pick.
Ruger RXM PVD models at a glance:
Ruger RXM (19496 and 19497) specifications:
Find all the models and prices here: https://www.ruger.com/products/rxm/models.html
Copper or blue, or does a carry gun belong in black? What colours should Ruger do next, now that both the slide and the grips are fair game?
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